My Favorite Places To Photograph Families In Southern Illinois

I primarily shoot my sessions outdoors. This gives me an endless possibilities of places to shoot! The best part, is that I can shoot in the same place more than once, and still get very different images. For example, one of my favorite places to shoot is Riverside Park in Murphysboro! Why do I love this place?

For one, it is huge! Even when there are a ton of people, you can still get privacy. Some people don’t enjoy being photographed in front of others so privacy is something I always think about when choosing a location. Anther thing I love about it, is it’s variety. There is a large dome, and I can capture images on the stairs or on the dome! I have only done this a a handful of times. I can also get pictures by the lake or the trees. This park also features some open fields that are plain. This is great for kids, as it allows them space to run around. There is also a dog park, kids park, and a baseball field! There is so much space and a ton of variety!

So, let’s play a little game. Pick two photos from below that were not taken at Riverside! Answer will be down below!

Correct answer: They were ALL taken at Riverside Park. During different times of course, which makes the images look so different from each other. I tend to shoot at various parks in Carbondale since it is close distance to most of my clients. The parks are usually very private whilst being safe! I love shooting at Giant City Park! There are countless areas to shoot from within Giant City! It is huge and has tons of private areas. I have also taken pictures at John A Logan, Crab Orchard Lake, and New Haven! These are some of the classic spots and, there are of course areas that are less popular! My biggest advice for finding some of the less popular areas in southern Illinois would be to join some Facebook groups! There are a ton!! Here a few of my favorites:

Southern Illinois Photography (2.4K members)

Illinois Photography (1.4K members)

Illinois Nature lovers (26K members)

Nature in Southern Illinois (About 3.2K members)

I don’t have a lot of places where I shoot that are secretive, and this is mostly due to security purposes. I always try to keep myself in areas where there are other people. I will however just take my camera and drive around sometimes. You end up with a ton of really good photos and discover new places along the way. That is how I got the following photos:

And shout out out to my fiancée, Kevin for always being my model! Hope this gave you some ideas for areas to shoot and I hope it sparks some inspiration!